


Middle Of Nowhere

by cestlavieminako



Category: HiGH&LOW: the Story of S.W.O.R.D. (TV), The Messiah Project
Genre: M/M, funky crossover AU thing, where we pretend Polar Night never happened
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:08:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26225419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cestlavieminako/pseuds/cestlavieminako
Summary: Amane was used to finding strange things on his walks, but this really took the cake.
Relationships: Amane Yasuchika/Misu Kimitoshi
Kudos: 5
Collections: High and Low Shipping Week





	Middle Of Nowhere

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the Day 2 prompt "crossover"
> 
> This specific Messiah Project AU came to life about 3 1/2 years ago, and lives in a note on my phone, and was unfortunately never really properly fleshed out. But it continues my lifelong work of "fuck canon, these characters deserved better, I'm going to ignore this one movie really hard and give these guys a happy ending" so if you've followed all of the movies and stageplays and TV series and whatnot, just pretend that Polar Night doesn't exist. Misu and Amane currently live in the middle of nowhere in a nice little house and everything is nice.
> 
> (if you've never seen any of the Messiah Project and have no idea what's going on, I do not at all apologize for having this be mostly about Misu and Amane, but goddamn, this was too good of an opportunity to pass up to bring this AU to life in even the tiniest way)

Several months had passed since they’d adopted their new lives, and summer was beginning to slowly fade in favor of autumn.

Misu had looked things up online, so he knew which seeds to plant when, so they would have all of the vegetables out of the ground before the first frost hit. He’d also had to devote nearly an entire day into looking up how to properly care for the eclectic mix of farm animals they now seemed to be the proud owners of. It felt as though every time Amane went for a walk, he came back with something new, ranging from a cat with matted fur that had hissed at them for weeks, to an actual full-grown _cow_. 

He remembered how he’d worried that Amane was stealing the animals from someone’s farm (it was the only thought that made sense to him, after all; they’d been on their own for so long, surviving however they could. He simply thought it was taking Amane longer to leave that old mindset behind, and he didn’t want any neighbors—wherever they were—to become upset and wind up threatening what they’d built out here. Haku and Eiri had been very insistent that no one find out that they were living out there; they had been terrorists, after all, ones that had abruptly disappeared, thanks to the intervention of the two young men. They were incredibly fortunate to be able to have this second chance at life).

It had turned out that one of the neighboring farms had been home to an old man who had passed away, leaving all of the animals unattended. Misu had followed Amane one afternoon, simply wanting to see what he was doing on those days when he would vanish till nearly sunset (and come home with a new addition to their ragtag family). Amane had found the farm one day—and the body of the old man, who it seemed had passed away while doing his morning chores. The animals were confused and hungry, and some had broken out and fled. Some of the more trusting (or simply just hungry) ones had walked right up to Amane, and those had been the ones he’d brought home. He’d left food out for the ones that wouldn’t approach him, or ones that might still be hiding nearby.

And Amane had done his own research for the animals he’d brought home, knowing that the cow needed to be milked and the chickens would lay eggs. That was a benefit for them as well.

It wasn’t as though Misu could have told Amane to take the animals back, or let them go. That would be like a death sentence for them. Even if Amane went back to leave food out for them, there were surely plenty of wild animals that could snatch away a chicken or two. Some of the animals had already died before Amane had first found the farm, and he’d found several areas where it looked as though a scuffle had taken place, dotted with drops of blood or an explosion of feathers. 

At least the property was big enough for them. When Haku and Eiri next showed up with supplies, it had been amusing to see how wide their eyes had gotten when they’d seen the fenced area and the small chicken coop. Then they’d been roped into helping draw up plans to build a barn for the cows (there were two now; one more had been lingering when Amane had last gone to the farm, and it had happily followed him home).

Country living wasn’t dull. Misu could say that for certain. It had taken them quite some time to adjust to the sudden quiet. Being safe. Being able to sleep without having to keep watch out the window for the next danger that would come hunting for them.

One afternoon, Amane headed out on one of his walks, and as always, he headed for the farm.

He paused as the barn came into view, and he fell back into old habits, moving swiftly and silently through the trees, because he’d seen someone come out of the house. After all this time, Amane knew if anyone else was still living in the farmhouse, he would have seen them by now, or they would have seen him. Things wouldn’t look so decrepit if someone was living there. 

So he immediately figured this newcomer to be a thief. A scavenger. And Amane wouldn’t begrudge anyone to scavenge from an empty house—he’d been on that end far too many times over the years, having to steal what he needed to survive. 

This wasn’t his home, but Amane had taken it upon himself to care for the remaining animals there, and here was this scruffy young man setting a bowl down and making soft sounds toward the bushes by the back door of the house.

What was he doing?

Amane waited, wanting to see more before he made the decision to jump this guy. And he was glad he waited, he realized, when he saw the bottom of the bushes rustle, before a small cat poked its head out, looking from the young man to the bowl. He heard the young man continue to speak softly to the animal, before it finally emerged. It was so skinny, Amane thought; had it been hiding here all this time? 

As the cat attacked the food in a near frenzy, the young man’s head turned slightly. “You can come out,” he called. “Just don’t scare her away.”

Amane blinked; was this kid talking to him? When no one else stepped out and made themselves known, he figured that, yes, he was the one this kid had been addressing.

After a moment of hesitation, he finally stepped out of the trees, noticing that the cat stopped eating and stared at him distrustfully, and he halted movement until she went back to eating.

“You don’t live here,” Amane said.

“Nobody does,” the young man replied. “Someone used to…there was an old man, a farmer. He was always very kind, took in any strays he saw, or at least fed them. He was very old…his wife had died years ago. It was just him and the animals here. He’s gone too, now, I take it?”

Amane nodded. “I stumbled across this place a while ago, and he was laying in the barn. Already gone.”

Sadness crossed the young man’s features. “I see…” He went silent, watching the cat polish off the dish of food, before she dashed back into the bushes, and he took the dish and rose to his feet. “She has a litter of kittens in there, and it looks like she hasn’t eaten in a while. There’s a big bag of cat food in the cellar. Lots of canned fruits and vegetables, too.”

“Have you been here for a long time?” Amane asked. It seemed as though this young man had practically moved in, but…well, it looked as though he were homeless, if the state of his ragged clothing meant anything. And no one was using the house anymore, now that the farmer was gone. “Here, help me put feed out for whatever animals are still around.”

The young man shook his head. “I already did that. I’ve seen you a few times. I thought at first that you were a thief, but you didn’t take anything. You left food for everyone that was still around. I understand why some of them followed you. You took them home with you?” When Amane nodded, the young man smiled. “Good. They deserve a safe home. It’s spooky here at night, and there are plenty of wild critters that have taken some of the chickens in the past. Without the farmer here to scare them off, they’ve gotten brave enough to come close to the house.” He looked down at the dish in his hands. “I’m going to leave more food out for her. Hopefully she eats it before a raccoon or possum gets into it.”

This certainly was a peculiar young man, Amane thought, watching him go back into the house, emerging some time later with the dish refilled with dry cat food, and a bowl of water, which he placed close to the bush. “I wish I could convince her to go into the barn, at least. Or to be trusting enough to go with you. I feel like you’d give her a good home.”

He stood up, dusting his knees off, then glanced at Amane. “I don’t suppose I could go with you, could I?”

Amane blinked. “I, uh…don’t know if bringing a whole ass person home is as acceptable as a cat or a few chickens.”

The young man smiled, and the next thing Amane knew, a gray cat was bounding toward him, and he yelped as it jumped up, and he scrambled to catch it in his arms.

He lifted the cat, taking note of its golden eyes, much like those of the young man that he’d been speaking too, and he lifted the small charm that dangled from its ratty collar.

“Smokey, huh?” he murmured. The cat answered with a loud meow, and if Amane didn’t know better, he would have sworn that it was smiling. “Well, shit…I don’t know how I’ll even begin to explain all this to Missan, you…you werecat. You’re still coming here with me every day so we can check on your friend, and whoever happens to still be around, got it?”

The cat purred, clearly content, rubbing its head on Amane’s shoulder as he turned to head back home.


End file.
